Nature nerd time! These beautiful trees with green and red leaves are all over Portland, Jamaica. Turns out they’re almond trees, and when you look closely you’ll notice small green pods growing from them. Some are tiny new born ones, and some are about the size of apricots. When they’re ripe they look a little bit like small pears, with sweet red flesh on the inside. Almond fruit!

When they fall from the tree and dry up, they look like gnarled mini coconuts, and at that point they are ready to be smashed with rocks. Inside is the almond seed, which we know as a nut. Newsflash! Almonds are seeds not nuts.

Check it out, I hand shelled these almonds! Okay, so I did 3, and Pam the cook, may have helped with the other 30 or so . . .

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